BTS Is The World’s Highest-Paid Boy Band And K-Pop Act

BTS at the 2019 Billboard Music Awards at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Nevada

NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images

South Korean supergroup BTS makes its debut at No. 43 on the Forbes Celebrity 100 list, taking home $57 million in pretax income over the past year. The seven-member crew—composed of Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V, RM, Jin and Jungkook—is the sole K-Pop act and boy band on this year’s list (check out the full 2019 ranking here).

A significant portion of the group’s earnings derive from its massive Love Yourself World Tour and its corresponding Love Yourself: Speak Yourself Stadium Tour extension, in support of their record-breaking Love Yourself album trilogy: Her, Tear and Answer.

Following the group’s successful first run in North America, Europe and Asia, they added new dates and upgraded arenas to stadiums. Starting in May, the new dates included sold-out double runs at Soldier Field, MetLife Stadium and the Rose Bowl. The band’s first six stadium sets in the U.S. grossed $44 million and sold just under 300,000 tickets, averaging just over $7,000,000 per night, according to Billboard Boxscore.

BTS accepts the Top Duo/Group award during the 2019 Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Getty Images

The release of two concert films also boosted BTS’ cash flow: November 2018’s Burn The Stage: The Movie, which tallied $18.5 million globally, and BTS World Tour: Love Yourself in Seoul, a concert movie in honor of their world tour; the latter clocked $11.7 million worldwide (excluding Korea) as of January.

Music sales fueled by the Love Yourself album series and BTS’ latest No. 1 release, Map of the Soul: Persona, padded the band’s coffers. Endorsement deals with brands like Hyundai and Coca Cola added millions as well.

In June 2019, the group revealed its newest business venture: a new app called BTS World, which allows fans to virtually manage BTS from their smartphones. Although the app debuted after our scoring period, it reached No. 1 in app stores around the globe. That bodes well for the group’s prospects for a Celebrity 100 return next year.